gently gather them all up.. and tie a bow around them .. or use tape ... see if we cant get them upright again ...

babs.. do they rebloom from same stalk.. or are you saying they will put up new flower stems in toto??? ... so just cut them down ...

rox .. perhaps next time .. dont buy a plant in full bloom ... they take a lot of stress when planting ... though you need at least one flower to be able to ID the proper flower type .. or did they bolt after planting???

ken

They were fine when I purchased them and they had just started to bloom but they were damaged by a horrible week we had here, the winds threw the buckets around and against each other so that really did it. I went out there this morning and did some work on them, gathered them around with some yarn and did cut the ones that were really bad and bent. I hope they are fine for next year, I did see some small stems coming up in between the bigger ones so I am not sure how they re bloom

Personally, I would just let the foliage do what it wants rather than try to fuss with it. They tend to sprawl on the ground naturally, so tying up won't improve the appearance to my mind. Foliage will continue to grow and fill in over the season, and if it's left to grow as it wishes, the appearance will improve. Next season it should be fine. Some Dianthus will bloom all season, while some are spring only bloomers, so if you have a tag with a cultivar name and can look up what this is supposed to do you will know what its bloom season is. Generally, double flowers have a more difficult time with wind and rain, so if they get damaged, just cut them off.

I agree with NHBabs. Tied up Dianthus would look far worse to me than floppy Dianthus. I would expect future flower stems to be sturdier since these are newly planted and will have been brought on under softer conditions than they'll get in your garden.

Thank you so much for your comments, they did so much better for the rest of the year, I even had blooms until fall sporadically, my question now is with spring coming... how do they come back? These plants never really died or were completely brown perse, but they are greenish and I don’t know if the plant will regrow from the ground or it will pick up where it left.., ?

The foliage is evergreen and perennial and will continue to grow next season. But new stems will grow in addition to the overwintered ones.

In my case, I was able to cut off many divisions to spread around even after one season. I was so happy with them I ordered seeds for several more colors. I hope seed sowing them proves to be as easy.

Kitasei - sowing them from seed should be easy. This is my first time ever growing anything from seed, I am trying some dianthus and they’re already sprouting and 2 inches tall! I’m sure you’ll have no trouble with them

If you want to replicate specific species or cultivars you need to propagate vegetatively, either from divisions or 'pipings'.

in spring ... remove any of the branches that are ugly or damaged .... back to an inch or two ... put the power into the new growth ....

in the way back machine ,... with no web .... and no guidance .... i would cut half the clump back to a few inches ... after i could see where the new stems ..

and i would leave half there ... then i would observe it this season ... and see which option worked best ...

i bet in most instances.. i eventually cut back all the flopping ones ....

and then i moved to acreage ... and decided to just let plants do whatever they wants ... more along babs method ...

the beauty of perennials ... once you establish the root mass ... that is really all that matters.. and you should have years of pleasure ... no matter what you do with the top

ken

Your soil ph might be too acidic for them. Dianthus seem to prefer very slightly acidic (6.5) to alkaline soil, so I don't think they'd be happy if the ph was much lower than that. If acid soil is the issue you could try adding some lime/limestone and see if that helps.

In all honesty, my Dianthus haven't had any issues with my soil or that of at least two other neighbors. My soil is acid enough to grow native blueberries, Kalmia, and Rhodies, so I don't imagine that all of them are too fussy.

That is very interesting NHBabs. I did not know they tolerated such acidic soils (or maybe just that particular species you're growing tolerates it). Unlike many of the people on this board I don't have years of experience gardening. I can only comment based on what I read in books and what others have told me.

UPDATE: I left the plants do what they did the following spring, I just removed very dead branches but the plant did not make it ‍♀️ I know I tried another variety of these on the same spot of my garden and they did not come back either, that is why I bought these to replace..... Maybe I am just not that lucky with these ones.

My issue with Dianthus is that they require very well drained soil...which I can't give them. There are some exceptions like Dianthus japonicus, but it's so strictly a biennial that I don't like messing with it (doesn't seem to reseed on it's own for me well).

@dbarron Maybe that is my problem, I do not believe my soil to be too wet or too dry, but I could be wrong.

I have quite well-drained fine sandy soil and they are happy. I have a feeling that fine-textured soils that tend towards clay aren’t their favorite, and much of the Midwest seems to have relatively fine-textured soils thanks to the glaciers. Perhaps you can choose some of the hardiest ones and create a low mound of sand mixed with compost and surrounded by rocks to hold it in place.

I do find that they are a favorite of voles, so if you have them, the Dianthus need protection.

Roxana what a shame they did not return. I see that D. Pinball Wizard is part of the Devon Cottage series. They are listed as hardy to zone 5 but perhaps that is a little generous?

I had both D. 'Doris' and 'Helen' years ago that did not return. They had perfect conditions - except for my zone. By contrast I have had D. allwoodii for decades. It has lovely double (semi double) beautifully scented flowers. 'Firewitch' is also indestructible. Both have the same silvery blue foliage.

D. deltoides is another that I grow. It has a very different look but again extremely hardy.

I haven’t tried growing the fancy doubles or the taller kinds other than biennial sweet William. So maybe it is my choice of Dianthus cultivars rather than my soil.